7 Watering Tips for Sarasota Lawns

Remember when you were a kid and there was that guy in the neighborhood who sat out on his lawn with a hose, watering his lawn? 

Maybe it was a relaxing escape for the guy, a mini vacation from the bustle of life.
But before you decide maybe he was onto something and grab the hose, hold on. 

That was a huge waste of water. We have much better tips. 

When is the best time of day to water your Florida lawn? Early in the morning, before the sun gets hot. How often to water grass in Florida? Three times a week, in spring, summer and fall. What’s the best way to make sure your lawn gets the right amount of water, without waste? A smart irrigation system. 

Keep reading for more smart lawn watering tips, including:

How Long Should You Water Your Lawn in Florida? 

What’s the Best Time to Water Lawn in Florida? 

What’s the Worst Time to Water Grass in Florida?

Don’t Water Every Day 

Let Your Irrigation System Do the Hard Work

County Water Restrictions Are Part of the Deal

Don’t Neglect Irrigation Maintenance 

1. How Long Should You Water Your Lawn in Florida? 

Here’s what your Florida lawn wants: three separate watering sessions each week that deliver one inch of water each time. 

How to get that inch? Spray irrigation heads will emit one inch of water in 25-30 minutes. Rotors will emit one inch in 45-60 minutes. 

So make sure you don’t have a mix of spray and rotor heads in the same irrigation zone, or parts of your landscaping will get too much water.

That’s your irrigation goal for spring, summer and fall if you have St. Augustine grass. You can reduce that schedule to two days a week in winter months. Yes, county watering restrictions can shave that down to one day per week, which is a big bummer. (But we have a brilliant tip to get around that. More on water restrictions in a bit.) 

Set your irrigation system for three times a week and your rain sensor — mandatory here in Sarasota — will shut off your system if it rains and Mother Nature provided enough water.  

But, you can’t just set your irrigation controller and forget it — which is what a lot of people do. 

Systems need adjusting 6-8 times a year, allowing for Sarasota rainy periods and finicky temperature changes. Sometimes, that means three times in one month. It’s a whole big thing, and just one good reason you want to partner with irrigation pros who will handle the pesky chore for you. 

2. What’s the Best Time to Water Lawn in Florida? 

Early morning is best. (Insert big yawn here.)

Sorry, late risers, but you should wrap up your watering as close to sunrise as possible. (If you have an irrigation system, you can set it to water early, and keep right on snoozing.) 

Why is it important to water so early? 
A few good reasons:

• Once that intense Sarasota sun heats up, it will evaporate your precious water before it can soak into the soil.
• It usually gets windier as the day goes on. Why let your water droplets blow away in the breeze?
• Quick science lesson: those water droplets become tiny magnifying glasses when they land on your grass, and that bright sun can actually burn your grass. 

3. What’s the Worst Time to Water Grass in Florida?

Avoid midday and the heat of the afternoon, for the reasons we just shared. You don’t want the hot sun to steal that precious water. 

4. Don’t Water Every Day 

How often to water grass in Florida? Not every day. This is a common homeowner mistake. You want green grass. It’s really hot here. So you pour on the water, figuring your lawn will be grateful for a daily drink. 

That’s too much water, even for sunny Sarasota. 

If you water your lawn every day, your lawn’s roots will be able to find water really easily, right there at the surface. So they’ll stay short and shallow. Shallow roots are weak, unable to stand up to the stress of drought, insect attacks and other stress. 

You want those roots to have to work harder than that, reaching deep into the soil to get that water. Then the roots will grow deep and strong. 

So let the soil dry out between waterings, which means water longer and less frequently. How often to water grass in Florida? That three times a week schedule we talked about earlier should be perfect. 

Still not sure what your lawn needs? Partner with a skilled and knowledgeable Sarasota irrigation company to help you assess your particular lawn and create a custom irrigation plan your lawn will love.

5. Let Your Irrigation System Do the Hard Work

What’s the best time to water grass in Florida? How long should I water my lawn in Florida? How often to water grass in Florida? 

Wow, so many questions. Here’s the answer: Sure, you could try to calculate exactly when and how long to water your lawn. But why? 

Get a smart irrigation system to do all the thinking. It’s kind of amazing, all the stuff it knows. 

If it starts raining, or rain is in the forecast, a smart irrigation controller will skip watering. It knows nature will do the task. 

It also knows to skip watering if it’s too windy, and the wind will just blow the water all over the place. That would be a waste.

Does your hibiscus need the same amount of water as your agave? Nope. And your smart irrigation system knows that, taking into account what kinds of plants you have in your landscaping and how much water they need. 

It even knows how much water is in the soil and how much water has evaporated.

It’s kind of spooky, actually. But handy as heck. It will even make custom omelettes for you on Sunday mornings! Nope, just kidding. You’re on your own for brunch. 

6. County Water Restrictions Are Part of the Deal

How often to water grass in Florida? Sadly, not as often as you’d like. 

More and more cities and counties — including Sarasota — are limiting the amount of water you can use for your lawn and landscaping, setting aside certain days and times that it’s allowed, based on your address numbers. 

If you have new sod, don’t worry. New sod is exempt from restrictions for the first month. (And you might have new sod more often than you think, if infrequent watering kills yours.) 

But if you read the watering restrictions carefully, you’ll see that “low-volume irrigation” is excluded from restrictions. 

So if you replace your current spray heads with low-volume nozzles, you can water as much as you want. That’s huge, and well worth the investment, since you won’t constantly be replacing dead sod and plants. 

And definitely get all low-volume nozzles if you’re installing a new irrigation system. 

7. Don’t Neglect Irrigation Maintenance 

How long should I water my lawn in Florida? That’s a great question, but there’s more to successful lawn irrigation than getting the timing right. 

Your irrigation system is working really hard out there. That means stuff happens occasionally. Sprinkler heads get clogged. Valves break. A whole zone might fail.

Then, your precious grass isn’t getting the water it needs. Then, you get grouchy. It’s not a good scene.

Your irrigation system should be on a regular maintenance program, inspected by irrigation pros either once a month or once every two months. You don’t want your irrigation system suddenly failing during the hottest, driest week of the year. Your landscaping’s health is on the line. 

When you hire a company for regular irrigation system maintenance, they’ll manually test your entire system and do a walk through to make sure everything’s working properly.

They’ll see if any parts need to be replaced, test each watering zone, and check your timers and sensors to ensure everything is working correctly.

Then, you can relax. 

How Often to Water Grass in Florida? Talk to Us

Watering your lawn sounds simple enough, but it’s actually kind of complicated. And who wants to set their irrigation controller three times a month? 

Leave all that to us. 

Regular irrigation system inspections means worry-free peace of mind for you. You’ll know irrigation pros are keeping an eye on things, noticing small signs of potential problems before your precious landscaping suffers. We’ll even set your controller. 

And we’re happy to get you set up with low-volume nozzles so those pesky watering restrictions don’t apply to you.  

Let’s get started. We’ll help you figure it all out. 

Give us a call or fill out our form today! There’s a lot going out there. Let our skilled, attentive crews handle it. You sleep in.